Stevi Lichtie, speech therapist at Bivins Pointe, gives a few tips for keeping your mind sharp and your thinking quick.

When you’re looking through the newspaper that you get every morning or every Sunday, you can spend time on the crosswords or word jumbles.  Focusing on any kind of word tasks will help keep your brain sharp. And if it becomes too task-oriented or stressful, you can always look for a gentle word search.  Searching for those words that are currently in your vocabulary is very helpful.  You look at those mixed up letters line by line, and that helps your attention stay focused and on-task.

Also, you can try other activities such as brain teasers.  Teach yourself a new skill.  If you happen to have an iPad, or your granddaughter happens to have an iPad, you can always have her teach you a new activity using the computer-generated software.

Learning a new task, teaching yourself new things every day, keeps your brain sharp and task-oriented. Your attention skills will maintain their sharpness. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your grandchildren for extra help.